More Information

Want to try?

• Break dancing at Lorraine-Michaels Dance Centre, 7-8 p.m. Wednesdays.Try one class for $15 per person or sign up for four consecutive weeks for $50. Attend the dance studio's free dance party Saturday and sign up for half price.

• Hip-hop dance classes, which include the basics of break dancing, are offered for kids up to 17 at Just Dance, 3851 Main St., Bridgeport. http://www.justdancect.com and for adults at various studios in New York City, including hip-hop basics for the "absolute beginner" at Mosaic Studios, 13 East 37th St., New York City on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. http://www.nyhiphop101.com

Page 1 of 1

What is it?: Break dancing, the street dance style made popular in the 1980s with movies like "Breakin'," "Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo" and "Beat Street."

What to wear: This is a street dance, so jeans (as long as you can bend in them) and sneakers are fine. No need to channel your '80s self with boom box and gold chains. They will only get in the way

The experience: You're likely intimidated if you're imagining the break dancing you've seen in movies and on TV with people spinning on the floor (The Six) or on their head (The Baby Freeze). I was nervous when I arrived, because I truly couldn't imagine being able to do the moves I've seen. But, if done slowly and step-by-step, doing a version of them is possible. Beau Conley, instructor at Lorraine-Michaels Dance Centre on Fuller Road in Albany, has taught mothers to do this. He's taught two anesthesiologists from St. Peters Hospital, and now, me and Kristi Barlette, the Times Union's On the Edge blogger and social media strategist. So really, absolutely anyone can break dance. Since this is a freestyle dance, there's no formal warm up or stretching. We started with a couple of variations of Top Rocking, a two-step move break dancers do before they go to the floor. For the Indian Two-Step, we stepped forward and threw our arms behind us, then brought our foot back to the start position and our hands to our chest in a protective stance. The Latin was another variation on this move that included a lunge.

The basic break dance move that Conley equated to "pitching and hitting in baseball" is The Six. For this, you squat down toward the floor and do a sequence of six moves from one hand and foot to the other ending in a push-up position. When done quickly, this is the standard break dance move you're familiar with.

Next we learned to "pop," the arm-to-arm wave you've seen on a thousand music videos, which again, when done in extreme slow motion, is actually possible by bending your right wrist, then your elbow, lifting the right shoulder and then your left, bending the left elbow and pushing out your left hand.

With a little practice, this could be done at a speed that actually looks like "popping."

Final word: There aren't many ways, these days, that I can impress my 14- and 17-year-old daughters. Knowing what The Six is did it. The three of us plan to sign up for four more lessons. I figure I can be popping by New Year's.